Vibratory conveyor means for ironers



Jan. 6, 1948. w. J. ASHER 2,433,975

VIBRATORY CONVEYOR MEANS FOR IRONERS Original Filed Feb. 23, 1938' 2 Sheets-Sheet l gmcmm Nun An J. RsnER Jan. 6, 1948;

W. J. ASHER VIBRATORY CONVEYOR MEANS FOR IRONERS Original Filed Feb. 25, 1938 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Wuum n J. Hanan Patented Jan. 6, 1948 UNITED VIBRATOEY CONVEYORiMEANS FOR IRONERS William J. Asher, C l rad Spr ngs, Colo.

"Original application February 2 3, 1938,8era1N'0. 192,155. Divided and this application June '30, 1-944, Serial No. 542,891

6 C aim .This invention relates to. ironing machines and particularly to ironing machines of the type utilizing, as.one of the. cooperating ironing elements,

.a. travelling apron :by meansnof which the goods tundergoingiironing are held against a heated ironing surface.

Inironing machines of this type, and-especially where the ironing surface is that of a rotating cylinder, articles of work frequently tend to cling to the apron and it is sometimes difficult to efiect separation of the completed work from the surface of the apron after the apron has disengaged "itself from the ironingsurface. "chinesof-the two cylinder type, involving the use of two cooperating aprons it is customary to In ironing maefiect the automatic transfer of goods which have "been ironed Ont-he first cylinder, to the second cylinder, by the coaction ofthe two aprons, these aprons being caused to travel in parallel paths with the goods between themto a point in the vicinity ofthe second cylinder; at which point the aprons are caused to diverge and the goods'to drop from the apron of the first cylinder onto the apron of the second cylinder. At this point, difficulties are frequently met owing to the fact that the goods tobe again ironed on the second cylinder tend to cling to the apron of the first cylinder.

It is a primary purpose of the present invention' to provide means for automatically dislodging goods which tend to cling to. the travelling apron of an ironing machine and particularly to providemeans suitable for dislodging goods either from a travelling apron which has just disenei ee it r m nireo ne yl nde o ich ha cooperated w h a h r a ro n. br in goods to the vicinity of such cylinder from a distantpoint or, as. in the case of the machine particularly contemplated by the. invention, to dis.- lodge goods from twoaprons simultaneously, at

.thepoints mentioned.

The present application comprises a division of my co-pending. application, Serial No. 192,155, filed: February 23, 1938, which matured as United States Patent No. 2,394,421 on- February 5.1946,

and much of the mechanism illustratedin the accompanying drawings is more particularly described in that application. Othersomewhat re- 'to which machine the invention has been applied;

Figure 2 is anenlnreed verticalsection taken transverse y hrou h t sh f o he roni cylind'er, beyond the end. o t e. ind a d s w ing; the aprons, and the apron guiding means;

Figure-e3 is a section on line 3-3 of'Figure 1.;

Figure 4 is a section on line 44 of Fi ure 3;

and

Eigurerdis a: section on line'fiwii' of Figure 3. Portion ofthe frame of the ironing machine is indicated at it] and, as shown in Figure 1, this portion supports for rotation about. a horizontal axis an ironing cylinder, indicated at II. The cylinder H shown comprises the secondcylinder of a two-cylinder ironing machine, the first cylinder not being illustrated inasmuch as itcomprises no portion of the present invention. The apron for the cylinder l I is indicated at [2 and is endless, moving in the direction of the arrows-A in Figure 2, a; part of such apron being held in close contact with the surface of the'cylinder H by the guiding and pressure rollers 13, I4, l5, l6, l1 and i3 illustrated and being further guided in its movement along a fixed endless path byrollers 20,, 21, 2 2 and 23 The cylinder revolves in the. direction of the arrow B and the work is passed onto. the cylinder byithe apron [2 as it moves around the pressure and guide roller l3, h nin operation ving been completed by the time the work reaches a position, intermediate the cylinder. and the guide and pressure roller [8.

Ordinarily, the work will cling to the cylinder surface and will be removed by doffing blades 24 mounted ondoffing bar 25, and caused to pass cn-toia conveyor generally indicatedat C and comprising a plurality of parallel spaced endless conveyor tapes 26 which pass aroundv and over the doffing bar 25 and the tape driving and supporting 1 28;, so that the pieces of work are sucessiyel passed outwardly i the, dir tion f t e arrow D; and fall upon the delivery platform 29 from which platform they are removed by an operator. It sometimes. happens .oweyer; that goods tend-t0 clingto. the surface of the. apron 1.2 and hence dolnot; reach the. doffing knivesZA and the tapes 26, passing instead outwardly and upwardly along the reach of the apron 12: extending from guide-and pressure roller I18: to guide roller 22; and even around-this idler and on.- wardly. To eliminate this possibility means is provided for vibrating that reach of the apron l2 which extends from thepressure and guide'r-oller l8'- to the guiderollerZZ, this straight reach being upwardly and" outwardly inclined in the machine illustrated; but being hereinafter described asa generally horizontally extending reach, from the undersurface of which clinging ironed goods must be separated.

As previously stated there may be a second apron employed in an ironing machine of the type described, to cooperate in forwarding goods from a first cylinder to the second cylinder H to be again ironed and, in the machine illustrated in the drawings, such a second apron is indicated at 30, being guided in its movements, in the directions of arrows E by the guideiand pressure rollers l5, l4 and I3, th guide roller 23, and the additional rollers 3!, 32, 33, 34 and 35. As will be observed from an inspection of Figure 2 the aprons l2 and 3c are together while passing over rollers l5, l4, l3 and 23, but diverge or separate after passing around guide roller '23. It is desirable to provide means for causing the separation from the undersurface of that reach of the apron 30 which extends from the roller 23 to the roller 3|, of goods which tend to cling, in order to cause all of such goods to fall downwardly upon the upper surface of the straight reach of the first apron 12 which is immediately below and to thereafter pass around the ironing cylinder H in the intended manner,

A simple mechanism for effecting the dislodgment of pieces of work clinging to the reach of the first apron which extends from guide and pressure roller It! to guide roller 22, and from that reach of the second apron which extends from roller 23 to roller 3|, is shown in the drawings, particularly in Figures 3, 4 and 5. It will be observed that the sidemembers of the frame In are provided with bearings ma, lilb for the ends of a rock-shaft or rocking bar 36 extending transversely of the machine and that there are fixed to this bar, as by Welding, the free ends of the.

legs 3'ia of a generally U-shaped member 3?. The intermediate or middle portion 31b of member 37 extends in a horizontal direction transversely of the machine and is located just above that reach of the second belt 38 which lies between the rollers 23 and Si. Part 31b of the U-shaped member 3'l comprises a beater bar or rod which is raised intermittently during the operation of the machine and is allowed to fall by gravity so as to strike the underlying upper surface of the apron 3i) and to thus vibrate the apron and cause goods clinging to its undersurface to be dislodged and to fall downwardly on the upper surface of the straight reach of apron l2 just below,

Slidably mounted on the parallel legs 37a of the U-shaped member 31 are bracket members 40 and these bracket members comprise supports for the ends of a second generally U-shaped member M the legs ti'a of which are vertically disposed and the mid-portion Alb of which extends horizontally and is positioned just above the generally horizontal reach of apron I2, intermediate rollers i 8 and 22. The brackets 4i] may be adjusted longitudinally along the parallel legs 37a of member 3'! and by moving the U-shaped member All toward or away from the rocking bar 36 the relative positions of the beater bars 31b and dlb may be so established that, if these bars are simultaneously raised and then allowed to fall, they will simultaneously contact the upper sur faces of those reaches of the respective aprons from which they are intended to dislodge clinging pieces of Work.

The means for effecting the oscillation of the shaft or bar 38 and the oscillatory movements of the beater rods 37b and 4 lb is shown particularly in Figures 3, 4, and and is seen to comprise essentially a cam device R mounted upon a shaft 42 the ends of which shaft are suitably supported in bearings I00 and IBd formed in the side frame members of the machine. Shaft 42 preferably also supports guide roller 23 which supports and is driven by an apron of the machine, or the necks of roll 23 may be mounted in bearings 10c and llld, the shaft being dispensed with. Alternatively, the cam device R may be revolved by gearing which is in turn connected to the driving means of the machine, so as to be revolved at the desired angular rate. Fixed upon the shaft is a member 44 having four arms 44a each having a cam surface 44b. As th member 44 revolves the cam surfaces of the several arms successively contact with the end of an arm 45 fixed upon the rocking bar 36, each cam making such contact effecting elevation of the endof arm 45, rocking of the shaft 36, and elevation of the beater rods 31?) and 4 lb. As soon as the arm 44a which has been active disengages the end of arm 45 the arm permits the beater rods 37b and 3 lb tofall and these rods Will freely fall until they come into contact respectively with the upper surfaces of the aprons l2 and 30, in the manner previously described. Such contact jars loose from the undersurface of the aprons any piece of work which might be clinging thereto. If the cam device is driven by an apron-engaging and guiding roller its speed of revolution will vary with the speed of linear travel of the apron and henc the vibratory movements of the beater rods 3% and ilb will be increased as the apron speed is increased and will be decreased as the apron speed decreases. If the cam device is separately driven the rapidity of operation of the beating rods may be varied as desired.

The novel apron vibrating mechanism may be applied to ironing machines of the chest type, as well as to ironing machines of the rotating cylinder type, the problems involved in clearing I the aprons being substantially the same in both cases.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In an ironing machine, in combination, a member having an ironing cylinder, an endless apron, guide means for said apron whereby it is caused to move along a first substantially horizontal reach as it approaches the cylinder and to move along a second substantially horizontal reach after leaving the cylinder, a second apron for cooperating with the first apron in the transmission of work to said cylinder, said second apron having one reach overlying and spaced from the second reach of the first apron and mechanism for vibrating the second reach of the first apron and the aforementioned reach of the second apron to dislodge any work tending to cling to the undersurfaces thereof.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said mechanism comprises a bar mounted on the machine for oscillation, means for oscillating said bar, and beater rods supported on said bar for oscillation therewith, and disposed adjacent said reaches fo striking said aprons at one point in their paths of oscillation.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said mechanism comprises a bar mounted on the machine for oscillation, a U-shaped beater rod mounted at its ends on said bar, a second U-shaped beater rod bridging the legs of the first-named U-shaped rod, the cross-members of the respective U-shaped rods disposed adjacent said reaches for intermittently striking said aprons, and means for oscillating said bar and rods.

4. In an ironing machine, in combination, a rotating ironing cylinder, an apron adapted to move for a portion of its travel around the cylinder to cause the work to closely contact the cylinder, means guiding the apron along a generally horizontal reach in proximity to the cylinder, and mechanism for dislodging articles from the undersurface of said apron while moving along said reach, such mechanism including a heater rod positioned above said reach and means for lifting the rod periodically and permitting the same to fall upon the apron from above.

5. An ironing machine comprising, in combination, an ironing surface, means for efiecting the movement of work through the machine one or more traveling work-confining aprons cooperating with said means to maintain the work in contact with said work moving means, guiding means for said apron leading it to assume a straight line reach with its work-engaging suri ace turned downwardly for a portion of its travel adjacent one or more points where the restraint on the work is to be relaxed as when the work is to be transferred from one part of the work moving means to another, and means for vibrating said apron at such reaches in order to prevent articles of work clinging to the confining apron instead of following a work moving means.

6. An ironing machine comprising, in combination, an ironing surface, means for efiecting the movement of work through the machine, one or more travelling work-confining aprons cooperating with said means to maintain the work in contact with said work moving means, guiding means for said apron leading it to assume a substantial horizontal straight line reach with its work-engaging surface turned downwardly ior a portion of its travel adjacent one or more points where the restraint on the work is to be relaxed as when the work is to be transferred from one part of the work moving means to another, and means for vibrating said apron at such reaches in order to prevent articles of work clinging to the confining apron instead of following a work moving means, said means comprising a horizontally disposed striking bar arranged above said reach and means for intermittently causing said bar to strike the apron from above.

WILLIAM J. ASHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 140,525 Mowry et al. July 1, 1873 1,331,484 Carr Feb. 24, 1920 1,382,919 Kropf June 28, 1921 1,622,282 Micon Mar. 29, 192'? 1,809,467 Asher June 9, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 395,655 Great Britain July 20, 1933 

